Georgi Tushev

Region: Northeast

Georgi Tushev’s paintings investigate the effects on oil paint when
it is exposed to extreme magnetic fields. His signature works
explore the dynamism of pigment, the physical possibilities
of paint, and the transformation of matter. He uses pigments
that contain high concentrations of iron that, when exposed to
magnets, create textured, three-dimensional surfaces; paint
seems to explode off the picture plane. Tushev’s works on paper
are made through a similar technique, though in water, where
the magnetic fields separate the watercolor pigments into
areas of black, white, and gray, and create concentric rings and
circular patterns. Tushev’s abstract pictorial space is evocative of
natural forms and biological processes. On the macro level, the
work looks like geological or lunar terrain. On the micro level, it
suggests a view under the microscope of cell division and mitosis.
Tushev’s method is inherently experimental; his compositions
are subject to varying degrees of chance and instability. His longtime
scientific testing of material has resulted in works that are
arresting in form and astonishing in process.